The Key to the Truth
by skyblueinkpen
Summary: Caroline and Tyler have known each other for their whole lives. But  people don't know about their childhood together, what really happened between them  as they grew up. The truth behind Forwood friendship from past to present is  unveiled.
1. Hiding the Key Part I

_Hey guys! So this is my first fanfiction. The place setting is in Mystic Falls at the Lockwood Mansion. The time setting is when Caroline and Tyler are around 8-9 years of age. At this point, they're only family friends and nothing really more. Enjoy!_

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><p>Caroline looked around for a new source of amusement. She already read her chapter books she brought over. She wanted to do something else now. Her bright, blonde, ponytail swished around her face as she examined the Lockwood's family room for a new distraction. Boring museum stuff, boring papers with words on it. The only interesting things were the few family pictures hanging on the walls. They showed a happy family of three though Caroline knew better. Often times, she would see Mayor Lockwood yell at Tyler for misbehaving and "disgracing" the family whatever that meant. But still, it was interesting to the imagination to see their family in a happy state.<p>

Her mom was in the neighboring office room talking about "important stuff" with the Founding Families. While they were talking about her "important stuff," she was supposed to be a good girl and stay in the room or play with Tyler wherever he was. She sighed out of boredom and walked to the window. As she tiptoed and peeked across the Lockwood's perfectly green, cut lawn, she saw a tanned boy her age running behind the bushes surrounding the gazebo. _Tyler…what was he doing now? Something that would get him in trouble_, she thought. Though she wasn't invited to be part of his secret scheme, she decided to check on him out of her own curiosity.

"What are you doing here?" Tyler asked irritated when he saw the blonde girl skipping in his direction. He was on knees in the soil beginning to dig a hole behind the bush.

"I just wanted to see what you were doing. Can I help?" asked Caroline innocently. She kept a distance from Tyler just in case he suddenly turned very angry like he did sometimes in school.

Tyler stopped digging to give the girl standing behind him a hard look.

"Okay, but you have to promise not to tell anyone. And I mean it," Tyler said as threateningly as possible.

"I promise. I'll pinky swear," promised Caroline, holding out her pinky.

Tyler looked at her with disgust. "Boys don't do pinky swears," he scoffed. Caroline quickly put her hand down.

"Are you sure you want to help? You might get your dress dirty," pointed out Tyler in a mean voice. Caroline looked down at her favorite white floral print dress her dad bought for her birthday.

"No, I'll help," said Caroline as she got down to help Tyler dig his hole for whatever he was hiding. She did, in fact, care a lot about her dress but she wanted to show Tyler that she wasn't a girly-girl.

When Tyler told her to stop digging, he produced a key out of the back pocket of his soiled khaki shorts.

"What's the key for?" inquired Caroline.

"It's my mom's key for the house. I took it when she wasn't looking," told Tyler proudly. "Now she can't get in the house if I lock the doors from inside." He smirked at his brilliant idea, proud of doing something to cause more trouble for his parents.

Shocked the villainous nature of his idea, she gasped. (It didn't occur to either of them that keys could be easily copied.) "But what about if you get in trouble? Your dad…"

"Who cares about my dad? He won't know because they don't know what we're doing right now and you promised not to tell remember?" interrupted Tyler, flinching at the mention of his dad. Caroline nodded her head.

"Now, we have to cover it back up. It has to look like it did before," reminded Tyler. They began to pack the soil back. Finally, they chose five white stones and formed a very small circle around the covered hole to mark it.

"So what are you going to do now?" asked Caroline. They were walking back to house, knees and hands covered in mud.

"Now you're going to do the same thing at your house," answered Tyler.

Caroline eyes widened at his suggestion. "What? I can't do that!"

"Well, you have to. If you tell on me, then I need to tell on you for something too," explained the untrusting boy.

"But I'm going to get in trouble!" Caroline whined.

"You're such a baby," said Tyler in a sniping tone.

"Fine, I'll do it," said Caroline immediately. She hated being called a _baby_ especially by boys like Tyler Lockwood. "But you have to help me."

"Sure." Tyler shrugged, not letting the idea of getting in trouble bother him.

They walked back to the Lockwood mansion, each carrying a secret on their young consciences. When they walked to the front of the mansion, the meeting was over and the parents exclaimed at their children's appearance.

"Caroline baby! What happened to your dress? What were you guys doing?" asked Sheriff Forbes with all the worries of a young mother.

"We were just trying to catch fish near the pond," replied Tyler immediately without missing a beat.

Sheriff Forbes sighed. "Well, Caroline, time to go home. Say bye to Tyler."

Caroline said her good-bye which Tyler responded indifferently. He never cared. Well, at least it seemed that way to her.

As they drove home, Caroline thought his secret, well, _their_ secret now. She was typically a good girl and didn't like breaking the rules, especially lying to her parents. But she wanted to be friends with Tyler. She wanted Tyler to like her as a friend. He never seemed to want to talk to her or play with her. Now with a secret they both shared, maybe he would start wanting to be her friend.

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><p><em>What do you guys think so far? Please reviewcomment/subscribe!_


	2. Hiding the Key Part II

Thanks for the reviews guys! I really did appreciate them. Time setting: same.

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><p>A few days later after school, Caroline spotted Tyler walking alone to the basketball court with a basketball in his hand. She quickly ran to him, her pink backpack bouncing behind her back.<p>

"Tyler! Wait up!" called Caroline. As caught up with him, Tyler turned around to face the blonde girl in pigtails.

"Can you come over today?" asked Caroline.

"What for?" asked Tyler surprised.

"For…you know," said Caroline. Her voice dropped to a whisper. "The thing we were supposed to do at my house."

Tyler suddenly turned very interested. "Oh yeah! I forgot about that. You have the key?"

"Yes," lied Caroline. She didn't have the heart to commit such a crime like stealing her mother's key. And part of her didn't want her mom to be locked out. Instead, she stole their spare key from the garage.

"Well, then. Let's go!" said Tyler enthusiastically. Anything that broke the rules excited Tyler.

Caroline brightened up seeing Tyler so eager to hang out with her. So maybe taking the house spare key was a good idea if it meant being Tyler's good book.

At Caroline's house, they performed the same routine they did at the Lockwood Mansion.

After finishing marking the spot, Tyler asked, "Do you have any food? I'm starving."

"Yeah, let's go inside and eat something. I'm kind of hungry too," said Caroline as both got up and went inside the house.

Caroline got herself and her friend a glass of milk each and a jar of cookies. They ate silently until Caroline broke the silence.

"How come you never talk to me?" blurted out Caroline. Curiosity and her impulsive nature often overtook her will being and made her quite the blunt one.

"I am talking to you. Like now," said Tyler. Why did Caroline always have to ask weird questions?

"No, I meant like in school. You never talk to me in school unless we have to," said Caroline, letting her mind and mouth (which operated together quite often) run loose.

Tyler shrugged. "Because you're a girl," he answered, as if that was the most obvious thing ever.

"What's that supposed to mean?" questioned Caroline.

"Well, girls will give us cooties if we become friends," explained Tyler.

"Matt and Elena are best friends. I don't think Matt has cooties," protested Caroline.

"Or maybe he does…" said Tyler jokingly. They began laughing at the idea of Matt having cooties from Elena.

"Come on, Tyler. I know you don't believe in cooties," protested Caroline.

Tyler sighed at Caroline's insistence. "I don't know…"

Seeing that she wouldn't get a decent response from him, she asked him another question.

"Can we be friends?" Here she went again. Letting the wrongs things come out of her mouth; the reason why many boys stayed away from her. But she hoped that maybe Tyler would be nicer to her now that they were hanging out more together.

Tyler groaned inside his mind. _Girls…they never stop asking questions._

"We _are _friends," pointed out Tyler. "Why do you care so much anyways?"

Caroline looked down at the table in embarrassment. So maybe it was wrong for her to be such a loud mouth, another mistake to add to the list.

"Because….because…I don't know," said Caroline truthfully, her eyes still on the table from embarrassment.

Feeling a bit sorry for the humiliated girl, Tyler decided to change the subject. "I have to go to basketball practice now." He got of the chair and headed for the door. Caroline followed him so she could lock the door later on.

Right before he left, he turned around to face the downcast girl. "You know…you're not such a bad person to hang out with." He then walked out the door to school for his practice.

Caroline eyes widened at his words. She went to her bedroom, elated at all that just happened. As far as she knew, getting something like that from Tyler was probably the nicest he would be to a person. Laying on her bed, she replayed what happened in her head. She told herself that next time, she would have a good reason why she wanted to be friends with him. Now, she just needed to find the reason.

Meanwhile, Tyler was likewise thinking about what he and Caroline talked about. Though he didn't like how Caroline was being all "mushy-gushy," she really wasn't bad company. And though he would never admit this to anyone, he actually liked how she cared a lot considering not many people cared about him. But he would never tell her that – it just wasn't him to be saying that kind of stuff.

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><p>So...this ends the childhood period in their friendship. I'm pretty excited to move on and write the next chapter! Please reviewsubscribe!


	3. A Bag of Surprise

_Here's the next chapter for you lovely people . They have finally moved into their junior high years. I decided to split the original chapter into two chapters because it would be too long (aka endless scrolling). Enjoy!_

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><p><em>Thirteen. They had reached teenage-hood. The time when feelings of happiness, anger, and sadness can intensify to such a peak that they can dramatically change one's mindset. The time when friends form and fall out of friendships.<em>

The years that passed between the two since the burial of keys could be described as platonic but improved. They weren't exactly Elena-Matt material but at least Tyler seemed more accepting and willing to hang out with Caroline whenever they were together at school or Council meeting.

Tonight Mrs. Lockwood was holding another party at the Lockwood Mansion – another historical celebration. Caroline couldn't recall. She was just eager to hang out with her friends and have a good time, typical of most teenagers. The boys were perfecting their billiards skill by playing a game of pool while the girls were giggling and gossiping about people in school.

"So, you and Matt kissed yet?" asked Caroline, dying to know details since Matt and Elena had just recently started a relationship.

Elena blushed and gave her cute smile. "No, but Matt is such an amazing boyfriend!" she squealed.

Caroline and Bonnie stared at her until Elena asked, "What?"

"Well, give us some details!" demanded Caroline.

"Okay, so yesterday after school, he told that he was going to take this relationship _seriously _and he's going to do everything he can to make sure this works out," told Elena, naively happy to be in such a committed relationship already. Just as she finished, Matt came over to give her a kiss on the cheek.

"Hey," said Matt to Elena, putting his arm around his girl. "Can I get you a drink?"

"Sure!" replied Elena, smiling. Matt gave her cheek another kiss before he left.

Caroline watched all of this with a small pang of jealousy. Elena always seemed to be the lucky one with _the_ perfect life. But they were friends and Caroline didn't want something stupid like Elena having a boyfriend to get in the way. Trying to distract herself, Caroline looked at Tyler who was still playing pool but without a partner.

Tyler watched the entire interaction between his best friend and his new girlfriend (formerly known as best friend) in disgust before returning to play pool. He didn't tell Matt but he really didn't like him and Elena together or any couple in general. Relationships to him were just stupid. Girls were always nagging and always wanted the boys to play the Prince Charming. Well, sorry to any girls coming for him but he definitely was not going to play the knight in shining armor. It wasn't that he disliked Elena. He just thought relationships made people forget who their friends were. Like now. He was ditched during a game of pool because his friend wanted to get his girlfriend a drink? _Lame, really lame_.

He waited until he saw Matt returned before joining him and the girls.

"You guys, I have a surprise for all of you," announced Tyler.

"Aw, come on Tyler! What is it this time?" said Matt in a playful, exasperated way.

"Hey, man! Just hold on there. Just wait," said Tyler before disappearing.

"What does he have now?" asked Bonnie.

"Ha, who knows...It's Tyler, probably something he shouldn't have," replied Elena.

Soon enough, Tyler returned with a paper bag wrapped around something shaped like a wine bottle. _Correction_. It was a bottle of bourbon Tyler nicked from the family's liquor cabinet.

Caroline watched in horror as Tyler took out the liquor bottle from the brown bag. If they were caught, they would be in more trouble than she could imagine. She didn't even want to think about what would happen to Tyler if he was caught.

Elena, the good girl that she was, voiced her worries. "Tyler, if you get caught, you can get in big trouble!"

Tyler ignored her concerns. "You guys are so boring. Have some fun, would ya?"

Just as he was about to unscrew the cap, Mayor Lockwood walked towards them with a horrified look. The kids made way for him in complete fear and Mayor Lockwood stood right in front of Tyler. He looked down at the boy who seemed to have frozen.

"Tyler! What are you doing?" asked Mayor Lockwood in an intimidating tone.

Tyler Lockwood looked up and was at a loss for words. It was too late to come up with a reasonable or believable alibi. The other kids didn't say anything; they were too terrified of Mayor Lockwood to come to Tyler's defense.

"You want to explain this?" questioned Mayor Lockwood, grabbing the bottle and then holding it in front of Tyler's face.

Though he didn't want to seem scared, Tyler knew he was dead. Possibly in the literal sense. He remained quiet, knowing that anything that came out of his mouth would just set his dad off.

Seeing that his son wasn't saying anything, Mayor Lockwood said, "I think I need a talk with you son." He grabbed Tyler's wrist and led him to the nearest empty room.

The rest of the group watched this in silence. There was an awkward atmosphere until Caroline broke it by remarking, "What do you think is going to happen?"

"Hopefully nothing worse than just a talk," replied Elena followed by a sigh. She was too used to Tyler's antics and the subsequent consequences.

Matt tried to revive the party spirit within in the group by suggesting they join him in pool. Bonnie hesitated at first because of her dislike for the game but for the sake of the group, relented. The party for the teenagers continued smoothly despite Tyler's growing absence from the group. Finally, after twenty minutes, Caroline began to worry about what happened to Tyler. He was never one to miss hanging out with friends, in trouble or not. Wherever he was now, well, it couldn't be a good thing right?

"Hey guys, I'm going to go find some drinks and food. Kind of starving," lied Caroline. She wanted to make sure he was okay; they weren't best friends but they were still friends and friends cared for each other, she told herself.

As she left the group, she checked the room Mayor Lockwood went into and found that it was empty. _So "the talk" was over but where was Tyler?_ She looked all over the Lockwood Mansion before she started to search outside. After ten minutes of wandering the grounds, she found him sitting on the bench at the edge of the pond. She only saw the side of his face but from what she saw, she could tell he was upset. Timidly, she approached him.

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><p><em>Hey guys, the next chapter is already in the works so just hang in there! Thanks for reading. Don't forget to reviewcomment/subscribe (always appreciated!) _


	4. When Hell Breaks Loose

_A/N: I know it's been awhile. Please let me explain later. Thank you all for your reviews/feedback!_

_Okay continuing where we left off..._

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><p>He was no sentimental person. His emotions only varied between anger and temporary happiness. But tonight, he couldn't contain this complicated mess of emotions that was raging inside of him. Anger, frustration, humiliation burned within him. He wanted to yell at his dad, hit him even, if he wasn't so scared of his father's similar anger outbursts. His dad didn't understand him, didn't understand that he wanted to grow up and stop being treated like he was only seven. It didn't help that his dad humiliated him in front of his friends again. That just drove his hatred towards his dad to lowest level of hell.<p>

Tyler allowed the hatred to consume him to wipe the lingering humiliation he had. He closed his eyes, gritted teeth, and clenched his fists as tight as he could. Murderous images flashed in his mind…killing sounded pleasant…He continued letting himself be lost in his thoughts until he detected another presence. Tyler opened his eyes and turned around to see the blonde girl sitting nervously next to him.

With irritation, he said rudely, "What do you want?"

Caroline winced at unwelcoming remark but stood resolute. "I, uhm, just wanted…to check, you know, and see if everything was okay." She didn't look at him but instead stared at the pond in front of them which reflected the light of the full moon hanging in the sky.

_This girl. Why couldn't she leave him alone? _"Well it's not," said Tyler pointedly and annoyed.

Caroline took a small breath to calm herself. She was going show him that she could be a good friend.

"Well you know, my mom and I, don't really get along either…and..," said Caroline, unsure how to finish her thought.

"And I can honestly not give a –" retorted Tyler, emphasizing each word to hint to her his frustration. If she didn't leave soon, he couldn't guarantee she would leave this conversation tear free…

_She could do this. This was just a difficult person to befriend but she could break this wall. _Caroline repeated these thoughts to herself before continuing on.

"I'm just trying to say, your dad just, you know, wants to make sure you're not getting yourself into big trouble…"

At the mention of his father, Tyler felt the hellish fire inside of him explode.

"Yeah, is that what you think? Well, you know what I think? I think you should shut up because you don't know anything," spat Tyler.

Below all his anger roaring at the surface, he felt his conscience vaguely telling him to control his emotions. But the fury was too strong to fight off. He wanted nothing more than to make Caroline as murderously angry as he was.

He got his wish to a degree. Caroline's eyes flashed at his words though she felt a twinge of hurt and embarrassment at her failure to comfort him.

"I just wanted to help!" replied Caroline angrily.

"I don't want your help! I don't need your help!" Tyler shouted. Before he could listen to conscience, he released his burning wrath.

"You know what? You think you're such a great person but everyone just thinks you're annoying. Get attention from someone else that's interested because I'm not. Stop trying to help me. You don't know how to help other people. You're just freaking useless!" shouted Tyler, his rage reaching the climax.

Caroline, on the other hand, took all his cruel abuse bravely and fought the tears that tried to flow down her eyes. Every word he said created a wound inside of her and she could still feel each cut bleeding. She knew "words will never hurt me" but Tyler spoke the truth. She _was_ useless and annoying. She knew that like it was engraved on her mirror for her to see every day. But it hurt so much more hearing it from somebody else, especially somebody she thought was her friend.

She gathered what she had left of her pride which wasn't much and stood up, ready to leave.

In a quiet, quivering voice, she said determinedly, "I'm..I'm…so done."

Despite his more-than-furious state, Tyler was confused by what she said. Clearly, she was about to cry but he expected to be hit or to be yelled back. He _wanted_ to be yelled at. He wanted to feel another person's fury and revel in it…

Still in her low voice, Caroline continued with a more stable tone. "I'm done being the nice girl. I'm done caring."

"Yeah really? Go tell your mom who might care. Oh right, she doesn't," sneered Tyler.

Caroline said nothing and walked off, feeling his cutting words re-open the previous wounds he made. _She was so done trying. No more caring about other people. _She was resolute on this. As she walked back into the Lockwood Mansion, she avoided everyone's gaze until she found her mother, who was chatting animatedly with Zach Salvatore.

She tapped her mom on the shoulder and said, "Mom, can we leave now? I'm not feeling so well. I think.. I think I'm sick." She sniffed as she held back the oncoming tears.

Her mother seemed less than happy at her words, cutting Caroline even further as she recalled the last words Tyler said to her. "Sick? Now? Oh honey…alright. Well, then."

Sheriff Forbes said her goodbyes to the Mr. Zach Salvatore and other people as they passed and finally drove her distraught daughter home. When Caroline reached her bedroom, she closed her door and just cried all her pain out until she finally asleep.

After Tyler saw less and less people in his house, he walked back and headed towards his room. His mind was having a battle of its own. One side felt the utmost guilt at what he said to his sort-of friend. The other side told him what he said was right and felt pleasure at hurting her. Well, his more sadistic was right wasn't it? She was a useless, annoying person that he didn't need his life. Then again, why did he even care? He didn't need Caroline. He didn't need someone to care about him. So what if they weren't friends.

As people at the party talked loudly below his room, Tyler became absorbed into his thoughts until stupor overcame him.

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><p><em>AN: Okay, I know, I know. I haven't updated as soon as I said I would. Besides being busy with my summer studying/work, I have to admit, I lost inspiration for writing this for a while. My heart wasn't in this anymore. I viewed this more like an assignment and I didn't want to write this as some kind of burden. I wanted to write this because...well, I wanted to. So after taking a break, finishing my work, reading loads of other fanfiction, I have gotten my inspiration back! :) I can't guarantee I'll update soon but I'm going to try my best! **THANK YOU** all for your patience._

_By the way, if you guys were wondering, these are some of the inspiration which I got this story from..._

_-I saw a TVD S1 GIF image of Matt telling Tyler to stop being so possessive over him just because he liked Caroline. At first, I couldn't recall where that scene was and immediately my mind started to construing a story where Tyler had ulterior motives for being such a jerk (to say the least) over Matt/Caroline. Tyler made this one face that made me think he might have been possessive over Caroline as well. Not sure if I'll use that into my story...we'll see ;)_

_-The part in S1 when Tyler punches Jeremy in the face and after Jeremy asks him what's wrong, Tyler says I don't know with a huge full moon behind him. I found it clever how Tyler's random outbursts was actually just due to the lunar cycle..._

_Please review and give feedback! Love from skyblueinkpen!_


	5. Not For the Better

_**A/N**: Hello there! I would just like to thank everyone for their reviews! They are really encouraging! _

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><p>She was different. No, that would be an understatement. She was a <em>whole other person<em>. She told herself she was done being the nice, caring girl and took her own words to heart. Why should she try to care about others when they never really cared about her back? Or like Tyler, people who didn't even want to be cared? She tried to be caring once and all she got back were hurtful words that ripped her apart. She had wasted her time and was determined not to make the same mistake again.

Once she entered high school, she focused on herself. Nobody would stand in her way and she wouldn't let anyone come in her way. She worked hard to become class council president, joined the cheerleading squad, and became a candidate for cheerleading captain, the many wonderful things the college admissions wanted to see. Yes, she was going to head to some prestigious college and leave this small, dull town behind. Good riddance.

But her friends, or more like her used-to-be best friends, knew the change wasn't a good change. Elena felt Caroline wasn't ever real with her. It was all fake smiles and fake compliments with a green layer lying underneath all that.

"Is there something you want to talk to me about?" asked Elena one day. She caught Caroline rolling her eyes when she was talking about her relationship with Matt which going better than she ever imagined.

"What are you talking about?" replied Caroline innocently.

"Um, I just saw you rolling your eyes at me…" pointed out Elena.

Caroline looked at her questioningly. "Please, Elena. You're overanalyzing. I wasn't doing anything like that. I mean, why would I? I'm your best friend!"

But Caroline knew they weren't really best friends anymore. She felt herself loathing Elena more and more each year. Or more like envying. There was a fine line between hate and envy and Caroline was straddling it. The only reason Caroline still stayed friends with her was because of Bonnie who ended up in the middle of this strange acquaintance-like friendship between Elena and Caroline. Unlike her deteriorating friendship with Elena, her friendship with Bonnie was in a better state and she was quite grateful for that. At least there was somebody she could frequently complain to about Elena.

"Why does everyone think Elena should be the captain of the cheerleading squad? She's not even that great. I've seen people with better synchronization!" protested Caroline when she found out she had some competition in the position for captain.

Bonnie sighed in exasperation. "Don't you know by now? People only vote for other people they like. It's all about popularity now. Who cares if you can do a flip perfectly?"

"I'm popular though…" Caroline commented.

Bonnie stared at her friends with concern. "What's up with you? You've been complaining a lot about Elena lately…"

Caroline cringed inside. She was blatantly complaining but she was hoping Bonnie wouldn't blatantly point this out in return. She was hoping that her friend would more so just listen and agree with her. Instead, Bonnie brought up the issue that Caroline had been avoiding thinking about. She knew her growing envy for Elena wasn't just because of Elena. It was because….of a certain somebody…who made her self-esteem hit six feet below the ground and made her feel like a worthless being.

Speaking of…_him, _she hadn't talked for two years since _that night_. They had reached a mutual silence. Neither of them spoke to each other whenever they saw each other in the hallways and in classes. And it was just to Caroline's luck that they never had to work together in class and that nobody noticed the distance between them. Perhaps people just thought that they were growing up and finding other cliques to hang out with.

But one did cheerleading and one did football and of course, both groups often collided at parties and games. At the last home game of the season, the senior headquarter threw a large party at his house and everyone who was popular enough to get invited went.

Caroline was just getting another cup of beer when she turned around and bumped into him. Her heart almost plunged down to her feet and her breathing stopped when she locked eyes with him. He seemed a lot more complacent than she was feeling internally at the moment.

"Can you get me another cup of that? We're playing beer pong and one of the cups fell over."

Caroline's head was spinning so fast that he was finally talking to her that she couldn't find the words to say back and just handed him a cup.

"Thanks" was all he said before leaving to go play beer pong.

It was a few minutes before Caroline could resume a normal breathing rhythm. Did he really just talk to her? Yes, yes he did. It made no sense to her that she should be so happy that he was talking to her when he was the one who hurt her beyond pain. For some reason, she didn't care about that. She was just glad that they were on a talking level, friends or not.

She was shaken out of thoughts when Dana tapped her on the shoulder. "You okay, Care? You look like you had a bit too much too drink…"

Caroline laughed out loud. Dana thought she was happy because of too much alcohol…oh if only she knew.

"No, I…uh…well, one of the wide-receivers just gave me his number and told me to call him tomorrow," lied Caroline, following Dana to resume the partying.

That was the first time they had talked since _that night_. Soon, they began talking again but never beyond than what was necessary. If they bumped into each other at a party, they would strike up a simple conversation. Neither talked too much or asked too many questions. Caroline kept her answers nonchalant and indifferent.

She really had lost her desire to care for others. She had no motivation, no incentive to reach to him and ask how he was. (Not that she would if she did have the heart) Yet, despite her change of heart, she wished for an apology from him just to break the walls she felt between them. Whenever they talked, it was all too polite, too formal than she knew was normal for the two of them. But he never gave her an apology for what happened that night and their too-casual conversations continued. Well, if she was going to be mature about this, she was just going to have to forget about what happened that night and just pretend everything between them was always okay…

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><p>Sometimes Tyler wanted to beat himself up for what he said to Caroline that night. Sometimes Tyler could easily forget it and his conscience would feel guilt-free. But the days he was ridden with guilt, he found himself repeating the last words she told him. <em>I'm done being the nice girl. I'm done caring.<em> He avoided her for days, for years because he knew what he had done to her. He knew this new, successful, partying blonde cheerleader was not the real Caroline he befriended when they were kids. And he knew that he had a part in her change.

He told himself not to care. He shouldn't care so much over a girl. It wasn't himself to care about anyone. But it was hard not to care about someone in return who had cared for you more than your parents did…and what did he do to show he might have cared about her? Push her off the tip and break her fragile self-esteem.

As the high school slowly passed by, his initial guilt eventually evolved into semi-indifference. He pushed his unresolved issues with Caroline all the way to the back of his mind as more prominent issues took over. His relationship with his parents started falling apart for the worst. All they talked about was family honor and not disgracing the family's name. They were frequently disappointed in the actions and choices Tyler made that tainted the Lockwood name. But he could hardly care about that. He was going to do whatever he wanted.

His deliberate rebellion often brought about fights with his dad, sometimes turning physical. He often turned to parties to forget his problems at home. But parties weren't completely devoid of problems for Tyler. He remembered almost bumping into Caroline getting another cup of beer for beer pong. He hadn't thought of her for a long time that he was able to ask her for a cup without feeling any guilt. But he immediately walked away after a quick thanks as he quickly recalled when they last talked…

Yet more parties brought more accident "bumping-into-each-others" that Tyler didn't want to turn into "awkward-silences". He decided it would be best to just act like it wasn't a big deal that they were talking to each other after years of silence. After all, they were getting along fine (although he observed that it was too cold on both sides than he was used to). Why bring up the elephant in the room and ruin this fragile degree of acquaintance?

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><p><em><strong>AN:**_ _So here we have it! This is how I thought of them talking to each other again as we saw in the Pilot episode. This chapter was the bridge to my creation of their past to Salvatore brothers entrance. The next chapter will finally go into season 1 of TVD._

_I'm planning on combining the time she spent with Damon/Matt into one chapter. It'll be from Tyler's point of view too. _

_Leave reviews/comments/suggestions! I read them all!_

_One more thing, my school year is starting very soon so my next update will probably be really late! I have to finish college applications and study hard for my first semester! Don't worry though! I will be back as soon as I can._


	6. New Guy in Town

_Hello guys! It has been a while (understatement, I know). But school's over and I finally have some time to finish. This chapter finally enters season 1. Enjoy this long delayed chapter! x_

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><p>For a Miss Caroline Forbes, her first day of junior year was going quite well. People who always said junior year was the worst year clearly didn't anticipate the fall of Elena Gilbert. Due to the unfortunate death of her parents, Elena chose to step away from the social scene for a while and to Caroline's delight, broke up with her longtime best friend, Matt Donovan. As much as Caroline tried to sympathize with Elena's family tragedy, she could not help indulging in the opportunity to rise to top of Mystic Fall High School's society. Without the presence of the power couple that used to sweep the attention at parties, football events, and school dances, people actually began to notice Caroline's natural leadership and wanted the fun-loving girl around. Senior boys flirted with her and some came up to her to try to get her on a date with them. Though she was never really interested in those boys, the thought of having upperclassmen around her made her feel the popularity and importance she missed in her underclassmen years.<p>

As she walked triumphantly through the hallways with recently secured positions as the head of the "Stay Green" committee and head organizer of school events, she passed by Tyler Lockwood holding hands with…Vicki Donovan? Her eyes trailed the couple as they walked towards the other end of the hallway. Her mind went blank for a short while before realizing that he had a girlfriend.

_Tyler with a girlfriend, Tyler with a girlfriend, Tyler with a girlfriend_…the idea didn't seem to be processing in her mind that well. Suddenly, she lost her victory flaunt and became too overwhelmed by shock. With this latest information, Caroline quickly ran to the nearest friend she could find. She found Lanie at her locker and quickly divulged what she just saw.

"You will not believe what I just saw. I just saw Tyler with Vicki Donovan!" she exclaimed to Lanie, a fellow cheerleader who was getting notebooks out of her locker.

Lanie seemed less moved over this piece of news. "Well yeah, they started going out after the last day of summer break party. What's the big deal?"

"What's the big deal?" repeated Caroline incredulously. "This is Tyler Lockwood we're talking about! You know? The guy who only hooks up with girls? The no-relationship guy? Don't you just find it, you know, just a bit interesting to see the bad boy of our grade settle down?"

Lanie raised her eyebrow. "Uh, not really? I heard they just hooked up at the party and just kind of stayed together afterwards. I think he actually kind of likes her."

Caroline scoffed at the last comment and it definitely had nothing to do with the fact that there was a girl that was able to put Tyler beyond a hook-up.

"Anyways, I have to go to chem class. See you around," said Lanie, closing her locker and walking away.

_So they are together_, Caroline thought to herself. It wasn't that she cared for him in any way, but the fact that there was a girl who could make Tyler feel okay with relationships made her feel the slightest pang of jealously.

She shook off her inexplicable jealously of Vicki Donovan – why did she care again? - and pulled out her phone to update Bonnie on what she just learned. As she started to text away, she looked up to see if any teachers were around and ended up staring at a well-dressed man walking down the hallway. A quick look was all she needed. Black leather jacket, faded brand-name jeans, and well-styled hair. Good looking guy? No doubt about that. Hottie? Absolutely.

Caroline smirked to herself at the prospect of a potential hottie boyfriend for the year. Hopefully, he was single and if he was, other girls better watch out because she was going to make that single status change soon.

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><p>For Tyler, the start of his junior year could be seen as both going well and bad. The good part was that he had a pretty hot girlfriend to look forward to now. The bad part was any direction he and Caroline Forbes were heading would never end up anywhere like in the past. As he and Caroline slowly began to talk again, despite the persistent elephant in the room, they seemed to be completely starting over their friendship.<p>

At first, he thought a start-over for them would be for the better but he found out how wrong he was. The Caroline Forbes he wanted to befriend again was non-existent. Instead, he talked to a girl who just wanted to party, get male attention, and boss everyone around. Wherever the cute girl with a heart was, Tyler would have to dig quite deep to retrieve her back. But she was a lost cause as he slowly discovered over the summer before school started.

Throughout the summer, Tyler noticed Caroline rising up on the social ladder. He accredited this to the fact that Elena Gilbert was absent most of the time. Without the most loved brunette, Caroline Forbes quickly gained much attention among the Mystic Falls population, especially the males. He didn't give her flirtations much of thought as he was busy with girls of his own. But that one night at Dan Parker's party before school started…well, he couldn't really explain his behavior or why he made such a big deal out of Caroline with another guy.

…_He was coming in from a casual game of basketball outside on Parker's driveway when he saw Caroline, who was flat-out wasted, laughing as one of the senior linebackers pulled her along upstairs. Before he knew what he was doing, he was approaching them both and grasped her arm when he reached her._

"_What do you think you're doing?" Tyler exclaimed. _

_Caroline immediately stopped her laughing and gave him a completely dazed look. Way too drunk. _

"_Upstairs..." replied Caroline and resumed her giggling. _

_Dan seemed to be irritated by the random intervention. "You got a problem Lockwood?" _

_Tyler turned around to face the massive linebacker and realized how sober he was compared to Caroline. This just angered him even more. _

"_Yeah, I do! She's totally drunk! She's not in her right mind! What are you going to do with her?" he asked. To his complete surprise, his voice sounded somewhat near panic. _

_The linebacker raised his eyebrows. "Yeah, well it's nothing you never did before at a party."_

_As Tyler had no reply to the linebacker, he turned back to Caroline. _

"_Come on, Caroline. Don't do this to yourself." _

_Caroline gave him a drunken smile. "When…did you…care so…much Tyler?" _

_At first, Tyler was taken aback at the question but each word was enunciated so slowly and slurred that he knew she had no idea what she was saying._

_Tyler gritted his teeth, "Look…"_

_Caroline interrupted him as Tyler tried to explain himself. "Too bad…that…I..don't care…about you say…anymore…"_

_Anymore. A slap to his face. Another reminder of that one stupid night. With anger and humiliation rising inside him, Tyler quickly walked away from the couple, trying to ignore Caroline's clumsily footsteps as she tried to walk upstairs. _

_He grabbed the nearest bottle of hard liquor and began to drown himself out of his embarrassment. Good thing she wouldn't remember a word that passed between them._

_It was so unlike him to try to talk a girl out of hooking up with a guy at a party. He barely cared about what happened to other people as long as he got what he wanted. He saw Caroline, drunk or sober, flirt and tease plenty of guys before and it never bothered him…_

_Maybe it had something to do with how Parker was fully conscious of what he was doing with Caroline, who, on the other hand, was not in her right mind….but still…it wasn't anything like him._

_ Determined to forget how much his humiliation and Caroline, Tyler looked for the perfect distraction. In his partial inebriated state, he somehow found himself talking to Vicki Donovan, who was sitting alone outside on the Parker's patio. He couldn't remember much after that and had no idea how she ended up waking up next to him the next morning… _

He did like her, Vicki. She had this flirtatious way of talking. She was hot as anything. She understood his drug use. She had a pretty messed-up family too. All in all, a perfect long-term distraction from Forbes.

But it wasn't as simple as he thought. He walked into English class late and quickly chose the nearest empty seat before the teacher looked up from the roster she was staring at. Sitting down, he looked around his class nonchalantly before pausing at Caroline sitting a few seats in front from him. Luckily for Tyler, she didn't even notice him. Instead, she was chatting animatedly with a fellow cheerleader about some guy. Although he knew he shouldn't eavesdrop for his own good, whoever they were talking about had to be a lot more interesting than the summer reading book the teacher was discussing (not that he even really touched the book).

He heard Caroline whisper to Dana, "Wait, say that again. He's single?"

Dana replied, "Yeah, that's what I heard."

Caroline smirked triumphantly at this.

"Well, I'll make sure it doesn't stay that way that long," replied Caroline before turning around to face the teacher, pretend to listen to the teacher.

Tyler gathered the tidbits of conversations with much interest. So there was a guy who Caroline was interested in…

He pushed away the initial jealously that sparked within and reminded himself he had a girlfriend. But still, he couldn't help feeling a tiny bit jealous over this guy who Caroline was hoping to catch…

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><p>It didn't take Tyler too long to find out the source of Caroline's distraction (more like the source of nearly every girl's distraction in Mystic Falls). A new kid by the name of Stefan Salvatore. Good-looking kid. Wore good clothes. Apparently smart too. While the girls viewed this Salvatore guy as a potential boyfriend, Tyler viewed him as a big competitor. Who knew what else this guy had up his sleeve? And he personally didn't want all the girls' (or at least <em>some <em>girls') attention on him.

One thing this Salvatore didn't have yet was the social status as Tyler noticed at the Mystic Grill chill-out. None of the guys seemed keen on inviting him in order to keep away the competition. The girls were too intimidated by his "flawless" appearance to ask him to come. Except Caroline Forbes. She seemed quite angry at the lack of the presence of Stefan Salvatore.

"Ugh, no one thought to invite him? I bet he would make this so much more fun," complained Caroline in dramatic exasperation.

"Yo Forbes, if you're so mad, then go fetch your boy and bring him here," joked one of the seniors.

Caroline threw him a flirtatious smile and replied, "Don't tempt me, Marks."

Tyler scoffed at her flirting, trying to focus on his pool game.

Seeing her near the bar getting drinks, Tyler hollered as he finished his shot, "Hey Caroline! Can you get me some of that?"

"You think I'm your slave or something, Lockwood?" retorted Caroline from the bar.

Tyler lifted his head this remark, thinking he struck a nerve with Caroline. Instead, he found her giving a playful shake of the head while getting him his drink.

He couldn't help but flirt back. As he walked towards her with his cue stick, he said, "Hey, I'm not who's making that suggestion."

Caroline laughed. "Well, don't tempt me too, Lockwood."

Small bantering. Casual. Typical interaction between them. But it was better than awkward, cold, avoiding each other, etc.

She was still holding his drink when he stood in front of her. Suddenly, he couldn't think of a smooth response and instead his mind gained control of his words.

"So, you into the new guy too?" asked Tyler as casually as possible.

Caroline didn't seem to perturbed by his personal question. Instead, she still retained her playful tone.

"I suppose you can say that. He is single after all."

Tyler nodded and shrugged his shoulders as indifferently as he could at this comment.

Suddenly, her eyes lost its focus on him and on something else behind him. He slowly turned around to face what she was staring at – Stefan Salvatore. And Elena and Matt.

_Well, this could turn out interesting, _he thought. But like any other day in Mystic Falls, nothing interesting happened and Matt, being the good man, simply introduced himself to the new guy.

_Lame, _he said to Matt in his head. _You know I wouldn't have let him step foot into this bar with my girl…_

_My girl…_

He turned back to Caroline who had a face of annoyance and frustration. She handed him his drink without saying anything and walked away. With the tension between Elena and Matt, and Caroline's dramatic reaction, all he could really think was how much trouble this Salvatore guy was bringing to his town.

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><p><em>Did you guys like it? I tried to explain how Tyler ended up with Vicki and that scene at the bar in the pilot episode.<em>

_One clarification, although Tyler isn't in love with Caroline yet, I imagined him as possessive over her as part of his werewolf quality. Even though he doesn't love her, he still feels a need to protect her - hence, the party scene._

_I'm not sure how I want to proceed the next chapter. I think I may skim through Damon and Tyler/Vicki break-up and get to Matt. _

_Please tell me/leave comments/subscribe/message me for ideas! I'm open to criticisms and ideas! Thanks for waiting. I really do appreciate it._


	7. Things About Her

_**A/N:** Yay! A chapter up in less than a half of a year! :) This chapter has been actually hard to write as I'm trying to explain certain TVD scenes to fit my story. It gives me less room for creativity as they have to make sense but hopefully this isn't too bad._

_As always, thanks for the reviews! I love reading them! They give me encouragement to keep on writing when I'm at writer's block or tempted to go on a break._

_Enjoy! :) _

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><p>Tyler saw his break-up with Vicky coming. It came as no surprise to him. She was, after all, mainly a distraction for Tyler. He saw Vicky's disappearance coming. She never liked school and probably found some new dealer to hang out with. He saw Stefan and Elena getting together coming. That was too obvious. But the one thing he never saw coming <em>ever<em> was Matt and Caroline walking down a hallway together, smiling and laughing like a love-struck couple.

_What the…_thought Tyler as he saw them stop in the hallway, whispering to each other about something he assumed was funny and personal. They were clearly flirting with each other.

"Do you see that?" asked Tyler in disgust to Brad, the guy he was talking to.

Brad had no idea what Tyler was talking about, "See what?"

"That!" exclaimed Tyler, tilting his head toward the smiling couple.

Brad found it more amusing than Tyler who was more revolted by the sight.

He chuckled before telling Tyler, "I guess Donovan found himself some new game to catch."

Tyler groaned in his mind. This kid didn't get it. "You know what? Never mind."

He walked away from Brad, deciding he would confront Matt as soon as possible. But talking to Matt turned out a lot harder than he thought. They had no classes together except their free period which was two periods before school ended. So it was nearly before the end of school that Tyler got to talk to Matt.

He tried to find out what was going on between Matt and Caroline but Matt was pretty vague on what was going on. At first, Tyler thought they were just hooking up, going for a friends with a benefit thing – (_you're tapping that?_) but he had to believe Matt when he said it wasn't like that. He knew Matt, his best friend since forever, and knew that Matt was a total relationship type of a guy. Matt was the opposite of Tyler who went for hook-ups and had no idea what the definition of a long-term relationship was.

_So it's probably a relationship then, _concluded Tyler. He didn't really like the idea of his best friend in a relationship with Caroline Forbes. He didn't know why; all he could think of was that he did not want them together.

Tyler gave the "we" speech to Matt in hopes that he would see how annoying it was when you were in a relationship. But it was pointless. Matt didn't seem to be repulsed at all at the idea (no surprise there) and only said that they only started to hang out.

"Yo, what's your problem?" asked Matt, a bit defensively. He liked Caroline and saw no problem with spending a few days with her.

Tyler shrugged and lied, "Need my boy to stay single. Can't have a committed guy as my wingman right?" In the truth, he still hadn't figured out why it was bothering him so much.

"Yeah, sure…," replied Matt, shaking his head.

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><p>As he walked home from school, the discovery of Caroline and Matt's relationship was still on his mind. What exactly was bothering him? Well, he supposed the fact that his best friend was taken was a problem. He hated how whipped Matt was whenever he had a girlfriend (or just Elena actually).<p>

He hated third-wheeling – which he did quite a lot when Matt was with Elena. If Matt and Caroline were together, he would have to spend a lot of time with both Matt and Caroline…

…And that's when it hit him - why he didn't want them together. He would have to spend a lot more personal time with Caroline as a boyfriend's best friend. He would have to watch Matt and Caroline share kisses, hugs, and "I love you's" in public. He would have to give Matt advice when he and Caroline were fighting. And yes, that was a big problem for him since Tyler and Caroline had a bad history together. How was he supposed to tell Matt to treat Caroline more nicely and talk it out with her when they had unresolved issues with each other that they both pushed away and pretended didn't exist?

Alright, it was a stupid night where he said stupid things and he should probably forget about it but he couldn't – especially with the recent incident at Parker's party and what she said to him. He had lost a good friend that one night because he just couldn't control his temper. Even worse, he didn't just end up losing a friend, he ended up being the reason why she turned into such a neurotic, annoying control freak in high school. He was the one who broke her, who killed her kindness, the compassionate nature that made up the old Caroline Forbes when she did absolutely nothing to deserve it.

_Why do I even still care? _he asked himself. _She was just being overly sensitive about what I said to her. If she can't handle that, then that's her own problem to deal with. Anyways, she's such a superficial person now that I bet she really doesn't give._

But as much as his mind didn't want to care, he could do nothing about the guilt that always hit him whenever he thought about it.

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><p><em>I guess this could be interesting, <em>thought Caroline. She looked at a few brochures that described a few internship positions for the Senate. But she decided against it when she realized she didn't know much about politics, courtesy to her lack of attention in Government and Politics class.

She sighed. Choosing a career at Career Fair was a lot harder than she thought it would be. Maybe it was because she had promised her mom she would choose something acceptable. The pressure of finding something her mother would approve was getting to her.

Caroline looked over at the brochures underneath the sign that read "Broadcast Journalism." A job that sounded sophisticated enough for her mother to approve of. She picked one up and left, reading the pamphlet as she walked.

She was walking aimlessly until she bumped into Tyler Lockwood.

"Hey, watch-!" cried Caroline before realizing it was Tyler.

Tyler apologized, "Sorry about that."

Caroline rolled her eyes and continued walking and reading the pamphlet until she heard Tyler talking to her.

"Hey, I saw you and Matt together this morning," began Tyler.

Startled at Tyler's observation, Caroline put down her brochure and turned around to face Tyler.

"Oh, yeah so?" asked Caroline with a raised eyebrow, arms crossed over her chest, daring Tyler to make fun of her.

Tyler shrugged nonchalantly. "Oh, just wondering, if, you know, you guys were together. Matt's not really giving a straight answer so I thought maybe you would tell me."

"Wait, what? It's not like that!" answered Caroline heatedly, suddenly losing her cool attitude.

"You sure?" asked Tyler.

Caroline was becoming irritated by Tyler's unnecessary (not to mention random) poking and prodding into her personal life. Since when did he ever care who she was with? He only talked to her for small talk when needed and a bit of very casual flirting.

_Oh. _Then she realized.

"Look, I get that Matt's your best friend but I promise that we're just hanging out as friends. No need to worry over losing your man okay?" explained Caroline in the nicest way she could while fighting her growing annoyance.

Tyler nodded. "Yeah, it's good that you guys are just friends because you know, like, Matt's not really over Elena yet and all that stuff. I don't think he should move too fast, you get me?"

Tyler's words took Caroline off guard.

"Oh…y-yeah, you're right. I mean, yeah, he just broke up with his first girlfriend of like five years. Of course I wouldn't think of jumping into anything serious with him yet," blabbered Caroline.

_Ugh, he's right, _thought Caroline. She should have known that Matt wouldn't be over Elena but part of her hoped that he was interested in starting something new, move on with his life. But hearing Tyler, Matt's best friend, confirm her fears, she felt crushed.

She was starting to like Matt. He was a sweet guy and cared about her, basically everything Damon wasn't. But…if he wasn't over Elena (well, who would be?), then Caroline was his rebound girl and she didn't want that. For once, she wanted to be some guy's special girl – that girl a guy has ever wanted, not the second choice or leftovers.

_Wait a minute…_

Caroline glared at Tyler who, as she suspected, was smirking.

"You're lying to me. This is some protective bromance act of yours, isn't it, Lockwood?" asked Caroline angrily.

Tyler, still smirking, said, "Sure, if that's what you think, Forbes."

"You're just wasting my time," answered Caroline, beginning to walk away.

Dropping his smirk, Tyler said, "Why don't you check out that room over there and come back to tell me if I'm really lying." He pointed at a classroom a few doors down from where they were standing.

Caroline looked at him bemused. But she said nothing as she walked over to the classroom with the sign "Careers Related to Physical Science." She stopped suddenly when she saw Matt and Elena standing next to each other closely and talking about something that looked pretty intimate. The ex-high school king and queen with each other again.

Caroline felt like something heavy dropped in her stomach.

_Tyler was right, _she told herself.

She wanted to be angry at him but she couldn't because she could only feel jealousy towards Elena and dejection at the dim prospect of Matt wanting to move on. As she turned around, she saw that Tyler had followed her to the classroom and was standing only a few footsteps behind her.

Tyler opened his mouth, about to say something, but Caroline walked straight to him and began before he did.

"Well, I guess you weren't lying but you don't have to worry, me and Matt are just friends," said Caroline in a false cheerful voice. And with that, she left because the last thing she wanted to see was Tyler with his stupid smirk.

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><p>No, it wasn't supposed to go down like this. How did this night turn out so bad? Everything was going well as Tyler perused the sketchbook portfolio his art teacher had compiled and told him to check out.<p>

_It was earlier that day in school when his art teacher, Mr. Petina called out, "Hey, Tyler!" Tyler, who was walking down the hallway, stopped and turned around to face his art teacher who was running after him._

_ When Mr. Petina caught up with him, he said, "Make sure you check out the Arts and Music table tonight at the Career Fair."_

_ Tyler looked at his teacher, unsure of what he meant. "Uh, what for…?" He enjoyed art class but it wasn't like he loved it with a passion. _

_ Mr. Petina looked at him with a hidden smile. "Oh, I compiled several sketches I liked drawn by students during art class. I think you'll find something you like in the art sketchbook portfolio."_

_ He gave Tyler a wink and left. _

_ Oh, his sketches. Mr. Petina had told them to sketch something that reminded them of their childhood. While the girls and boys mused over sketching tea parties, Barbies, baseball players, and cartoon characters, Tyler knew what he was going to sketch. _

_Sketching was his childhood. He remembered vividly when he would sketch figures of superhero images he found online and Caroline would color them in. Caroline was always good with color schemes and making sure the color palette was compatible to whatever he was sketching. They started this tradition a few weeks after their secret key burials and when Tyler thought Caroline was fun enough to play with. Whenever their parents attended a meeting or the Lockwoods had a boring town gathering, Caroline and Tyler would be in Mayor Lockwood's private office sketching and coloring. _

_He never told any of his other friends of course. It would have been so embarrassing to admit it. But sitting in art class right then sketching away, he had to admit those were some good times with Caroline._

He stopped turning the pages when he reached his sketching. So black and white. He knew who would be able to make his sketching come alive with her coloring skills.

That's when Gilbert had to come in. ("and culture implies, well, not you")

Trust Gilbert to ruin his one proud moment.

He walked away before he gave into his emotions and caused Gilbert some serious physical damage. As he wandered around classrooms, briefly glancing at the stations, he spotted Elena looking at Matt with that expression he knew so well. It was her "I'm worried-so-I'm-going-to-talk-to-you" look. She gave to nearly every single one of her friends every time she thought they were in some teenage crisis.

_Well, well, this was going to be interesting. _Tyler was going to sit back and watch how this played out until the perfect idea to break Matt and Caroline up popped into his head.

When he finally found Caroline through an "accidental" run-in, he pretended to play the territorial best friend. Caroline bought it right away to Tyler's relief. He didn't know what other reason he could tell her if she hadn't though. It wasn't like he could tell her, "Oh yeah, I don't want you guys together because me and you are still kind of weird with each other…yeah…"

Even better was when she called his bluff and checked out the room where he saw Matt and Elena together earlier. That's when things started to _not _go according to his plan. According to his plan, Caroline was supposed to see Matt and Elena together in one of their intimate talk, walk out of the classroom with the mindset to totally forget about Matt, and go on about her high school life superficially. He didn't expect to see her to look so…dejected by what she saw. Maybe he underestimated how much Caroline wanted to be with Matt. But he didn't understand why. Why his best friend of all people?

He didn't know but he did know that he felt horrible about what he did. He tried walking off his thoughts but when the Gilbert kid came, he found a better way to vent. It felt good finally getting into a fight with Gilbert, who had been provoking him all night...until his dad came to intervene.

Things just got worse and worse as his dad pulled them outside to continue their fight. What was wrong with his dad? (A psychotic man with disturbing ways to make peace as he figured out the last seventeen years of his life). Thank God his new history teacher came out to stop them before his dad could contentedly watch them rip each other to pieces.

As he walked to the parking lot, he realized he didn't have a ride home. He most definitely did not want to sit in the same car as his father after what just happened. It wasn't hard to imagine what would go down in that car ride. So he waited by Matt Donovan's truck, hoping he would be willing to give him a ride home.

But going home with Matt wasn't any less tense than if he had gone with his dad. After Career Fair was over, Matt walked over to him with some speech he probably prepared before telling him.

Matt started going off about how he liked her ("there's this thing about her and I like her") and Tyler realized perhaps things between Matt and Caroline were more serious than he thought. When Matt told him to cut his bromance act, Tyler could tell that Matt wasn't going to treat his budding relationship with Caroline lightly. That would mean any of his plans to keep them apart would be pretty much futile. Once Matt had his mind set on a girl, he easily got her. If he hadn't dated Elena for so long, Tyler knew Matt could win scores of girls with his "sweet-guy-hot-jock" persona and Caroline would be no exception to his charms.

As Tyler got into Matt's truck, he no longer felt apprehension that Matt and Caroline would get together but instead felt sick to his stomach as if he just gave away something valuable and was now regretting it.

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><p><em><strong>AN: **What did you guys think of take-on 1x10, The Turning Point? If you have any questions, just ask! :D_

_A few clarifications..._

_The real reason why Tyler is trying to separate them is his jealousy. But he doesn't figure that out until the next chapter which I have planned out already. Right now, he thinks it's because he and Caroline have issues yet to be worked out and that makes it hard for him to be okay with Matt/Caroline. _

_Also, Tyler will start to reminisce in his past friendship with Caroline more and more as Matt/Caroline get closer. If his best friend is going to date a girl that meant something to him, I would think he would begin to reminisce about them more often than usual. So we're going to see more of untold childhood friendship in the next chapter :)_

_So subscribe/follow this story! The next chapter is going to be heavier Forwood stuff!_

_Leave a review! Tell me what you think/your opinions/suggestions/ideas._


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